In this episode we discuss the game Forbidden Island with designer Matt Leacock. We explore the ways that Forbidden Island creates a constant sense of urgency pushing players to consistently re-evaluate their strategy to win the game.

In this episode we learn about a relatively unknown game that takes minutes to play, but provides many hours of fun. The game is Kamakura, and its designer is Alex Montgomery. We explore the various levels of strategy that the game affords players who may be looking for a quick and easy game to pass the time.

*Warning: we had some audio issues with this recording, and I have done my best (within my audacity knowledge) to clean the recording up for the listening public. Please forgive any audio issues that may arise (also, if anyone has any suggestions on plugins or ways to better clear up recordings in audacity, then feel free to email me at mike (at) ninjavspirates (dot) com.)

Welcome back to the Ninja vs Pirates Podcast. We are kicking off our seventh season with our first interview of two designers at once. In this episode we interview Christian Leonhard and Jason Matthews about their game Founding Fathers. We delve into the challenges that come with creating a card-driven game that relies heavily on history. We also learn a lot about the time of the creation of the Constitution.

On Who, What, Why? we discuss game design with game designers and try to learn more about the game design process from the people who design games. Each episode we interview a designer of card games, board games, role playing games, or video games. We have both mainstream and independent developers as guests.